Periodizing Toni Morrison's Work from The Bluest Eye to Jazz: The Importance of Tar

Baby
Author(s): Malin Walther Pereira
Source: MELUS , Autumn, 1997, Vol. 22, No. 3, Varieties of Ethnic Criticism (Autumn,
1997), pp. 71-82
Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of Society for the Study of the Multi-
Ethnic Literature of the United States (MELUS)

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Periodizing
Periodizing Toni
ToniMorrison's
Morrison'sWork
Workfrom
fromThe
The
Bluest
Bluest Eye
Eye to
to Jazz:
Jazz:The
TheImportance
Importanceofof
Tar
Tar
Baby
Baby
Malin Walther Pereira
University of North Carolina at Charlotte

It is a mark of an author's status as "major" when we begin to pe-

riodize their work. William Faulkner, Adrienne Rich, William Butle
Yeats, Gwendolyn Brooks, and T.S. Eliot are among the major authors
for whose ouevres periods have been suggested. Toni Morrison'
body of work is large enough, and her achievements notable enough
that it seems appropriate to periodize her work. While literary criti-
cism of Toni Morrison's novels has generally acknowledged differ-
ences between her early and more recent work, there is a more radi-
cal shift in her oeuvre than has been articulated. Morrison's comple
relationship to colonization is radically transformed from her early t
more recent work. Periodizing Morrison's work in relationship to her
process of decolonization clarifies differences between her early and
more recent periods and stresses her development across her oeuvre
This approach also gives a central role to Tar Baby, a role not accessi-
ble within current frames.
Such a project-periodizing Morrison-has profound implications
for both teaching and research. When Morrison's work is taught as a
whole, as in a major author's course, periodization will affect the
way in which the novels are grouped conceptually, the selection of
themes and literary techniques to be investigated, even determining
which novels would not be taught once her body of work expands
further. When one of her novels is taught as part of a survey course in
American fiction, women's writing, or African American literature,
periodization will affect which one of her novels would be selected as
representative. In terms of research, periodization will provide a fo-
cus to the discourse and encourage a shared vocabulary instead of
the disparate theoretical discourses now in place.1
What I want to begin here is a call/response dynamic on the issue
of Morrison's canon and its periods, and I hope my call generates
many responses. The conversation on periodizing Morrison should
be exciting and multi-voiced; I do not intend the periodization I pro-
MELUS, Volume 22, Number 3 (Fall 1997)

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72 MALIN WALTHER PEREIRA

be
be exciting
excitingandand
multi-voiced;
multi-voiced;
I do not
I do
intend
notthe
intend
periodization
the periodization
I pro-
pose
posehere
hereas as
a final
a final
product.
product.

One
Oneof ofthethe central
centralconcerns
concernsthroughout
throughout
Morrison's Morrison's
work is colo- work is
nization.2
nization.2 Her Herearlyearly
workworkstruggles struggles
with thewith effects
the of effects
colonizationof oncolonizat
African
African American
American individuals
individuals and theand community,
the community,
while her later while he
work
workmoves moves into into
an exploration
an exploration of decolonized
of decolonized
African American
African Am
culture
cultureand and history.
history. In this In context,
this context,
her fourth hernovel,
fourth Tar Baby,
novel, as-Tar Bab
sumes
sumesa a rich
rich significance.
significance. Understanding
Understandingthe importance
the importance
of Tar Baby of Tar
to
to Morrison's
Morrison's distancing
distancing from fromthe colonizing
the colonizing
effects of effects
Euro-Ameri- of Euro-A
can
canculture
culture is central
is central to understanding
to understanding how the novelhow the dividesnovel
her divid
early
earlyandand later
later
works.works.
Tar
TarBaby
Baby seems
seems an unlikely
an unlikely choice choice
for pre-eminence
for pre-eminence
in the Morri- in the M
son
soncanon.
canon. It is,
It after
is, after
all, theall,least
theadmired,
least admired,
least researched,
least researched,
and least an
taught
taughtofof herher novels.
novels.
It hasItbeen hascalled
beenher called
"mostherproblematic
"most problematic
and
unresolved
unresolved novel"
novel"(Peterson
(Peterson
471) and 471)
has and
received
has little
receivedcritical
little
atten-critical a
tion
tiongenerally,
generally, and andvirtually
virtually
no critical
no critical
attentionattention
in the past in fivethe pas
years.3
years.3Few Few of ofus teach
us teach
it, choosing
it, choosing
the shorter,the "woman-oriented"
shorter, "woman-orien
Sula,
Sula,oror thethericher,
richer,male male
quest quest
patterned patterned
Song of Solomon,
Song oforSolomon,
the cur- or th
rent
rentfavorite,
favorite, the the
cathartic
cathartic
Beloved. Beloved.
Yet perhaps Yet Tar
perhaps
Baby seems
Tar Babyprob- seems
lematic
lematic andand unsatisfying
unsatisfying to many to ofmanyus precisely
of us precisely
because it functions
because it fun
as
as aatransitional
transitional texttext
in Morrison's
in Morrison'soeuvre. Viewed
oeuvre. inViewed
this light, inTar
this ligh
Baby's
Baby'sambivalences,
ambivalences, refusal refusal
of answers,
of answers,
and weaknesses
and weaknesses
in plot and in plo
characterization
characterization revealreveal
tensionstensions
in Morrison's
in Morrison's
process as process
a writer; as thea write
novel
noveloffers
offers maximum
maximum insight insight
into both intoherboth
periods.
her periods.
Tar
TarBaby's
Baby's central
central concern
concernis colonization.4
is colonization.4
The islandThe hierarchy
islandathierarc
the
thebeginning
beginning of theof novel
the novel reinscribes
reinscribes
the classic thecolonial
classicschema,
colonial sc
with
withthe the white
white colonizer,
colonizer,Philadelphia
Philadelphia
exile Valerian
exileStreet,
Valerianpresiding
Street, pre
over
overa ahousehold
household empireempire
that includes
that includes
a beautiful a beautiful
wife, Margaret, wife, a Margar
black
black"assistant,"
"assistant," Jadine,
Jadine,black black
servants, servants,
Ondine and Ondine
Sydney, and andSydney,
oc- a
casional
casional employees
employees fromfrom the island,
the island,
Gideon and Gideon
Therese.and The
Therese.
arrival The a
of
of aablack
black American
American drifter,drifter,
Son, disrupts
Son, disrupts
the householdthe hierarchy
household hiera
and
andchallenges
challenges Jadine's
Jadine'suncritical
uncritical
acceptance acceptance
of white European
of white cul-
European
ture
tureandand values.
values.Tar TarBabyBabythus constitutes
thus constitutes
a workinga through
working forthrough
Mor- fo
rison
risonofof issues
issuesof colonization
of colonization and culture
and culture
and providesanda provides
key focal a key f
point
pointinin
understanding
understanding
Morrison's
Morrison's
relationship
relationship
to colonization
to colonizat
in
both
bothher
herearly
early
and and
laterlater
periods.
periods.
Focusing
Focusing onon
Morrison's
Morrison's
struggle
struggle
with the
with
colonizing
the colonizing
effects of effe
Euro-American
Euro-American culture
culture
on African
on African
Americans
Americans
might seemmight
to eclipse
seem to e
other themes, such as African American folklore or double-con-
sciousness. Yet a decolonizing frame for Morrison's oeuvre provides
a way of connecting concerns that at first seem more central; such a

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PERIODIZING TONI MORRISON'S WORK 73

frame can account for both the double-consciousness in The Bluest

Eye and Song of Solomon, as well as the African American folklore and
musical emphases of Beloved and Jazz. Likewise, focusing on Morri-
son's decolonizing process also integrates an understanding of her
emergence as a writer during the Black Arts Movement (approxi-
mately 1964-1974) and its concern with decolonizing the black psy-
che. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, published in 1970, focuses intent-
ly on the colonizing effects of white female beauty on a black girl and
her community. In her 1993 Afterword to the novel, Morrison explic-
itly ties the issue of beauty in The Bluest Eye to the politics of racial
beauty and identity in the 1960s. She writes:

the reclamation of racial beauty in the sixties stirred these thoughts

[about beauty], made me think about the necessity for the claim. Why,
although reviled by others, could this beauty not be taken for granted
within the community?.... The assertion of racial beauty [in the novel]
was...against the damaging internalization of immutable inferiority
originating in an outside gaze. (210)

Rejecting that internalization of the (white) outside gaze was part of

the project of the Black Arts Movement. Essays such as Ron Karen-
ga's "Black Cultural Nationalism," Larry Neal's "The Black Arts
Movement," and Morrison's own "What the Black Woman Thinks
About Women's Lib"-all written during this period-each discuss
the black struggle to be free of white ideas, aesthetic or otherwise. A
representative poem of the period, Don L. Lee's "The Primitive," il-
lustrates the dominant Black Arts theme of rejecting colonization in
the lines,

[whites]
christianized us.
raped our minds with:
T.V. & straight hair
Reader's Digest & bleaching creams,
tarzan & jungle jim,

european history & promises.

Those alien concepts
of whi-teness (297)

During the Black Arts Movement writers delineated the impact of the
cultural colonization of the black community by Euro-American cul-
ture and values and actively pursued a black aesthetic. Using a de-
colonization framework for periodizing Morrison's work thus em-
braces both her recurring concerns as well as her literary origins dur-

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74 MALIN WALTHER PEREIRA

braces
bracesboth
bothherher
recurring
recurring
concerns
concerns
as well asasher
well
literary
as her
origins
literary
dur- origin
ing
ingthe
theBlack
Black
ArtsArts
period.
period.
Morrison's
Morrison's first
first
fourfour
books,books,
The Bluest
The Eye,
Bluest
Sula,Eye,
Song Sula,
of Solomon,
Song of Solo
and
andTarTar
Baby,
Baby,constitute
constitute
Morrison's
Morrison's
struggle struggle
with colonization,
with colonization
both
for
forher
hercharacters
charactersand their
and their
communities,
communities,
as well as as
in her
wellown
as writ-
in her own
ing.
ing.We We cancansee see
thisthis
patternpattern
in the indialogical
the dialogical
way in which wayMorrison
in which Mo
frames
framesher her early
early
novels:
novels:
The Bluest
The Bluest
Eye is framed
Eye iswithframed
a deconstruc-
with a decon
tive
tivedialogue
dialogue withwiththe Dick
the and Dick Jane
andchildren's
Jane children's
books; Sula,books;
with the Sula, wi
Bible;
Bible;Song
Song of ofSolomon,
Solomon, with thewith American
the American
capitalist success
capitalist myth.success m
With
WithTar Tar Baby's
Baby'sexplicit
explicit
identification
identification
of colonization
of colonization
as a central is- as a centr
sue,
sue,Morrison
Morrison finally
finallybreaks breaks
free from
freethe from
need the
to focus
need primarily
to focus on primar
white
whiteideas,
ideas, aesthetic
aestheticor otherwise;
or otherwise;
following following
Tar Baby, Morrison
Tar Baby, be-Morriso
gins
ginspublishing
publishing a trilogy,
a trilogy,
of whichof which
we now we havenowseen have
Beloved seen
and Beloved
Jazz an
published,
published, a trilogy
a trilogy focused
focused
on blackonhistory
black and
history
written andprimarily
written prim
within
withinanan African
African American
American cultural cultural
perspective.
perspective.
In contrast In to the
contrast t
concern
concern with
with white
whiteframes frames
in the in
earlythenovels,
earlybothnovels,
Belovedboth and Beloved
Jazz an
take
takeasastheir
their frames
frames historically
historically
documenteddocumented
events in black
events lives:
in black l
Beloved,
Beloved, ononthethecasecase
of Margaret
of MargaretGarner; Garner;
Jazz, on aJazz,
photo on takena photo
by take
James
JamesVan VanDerDerZee Zee
that that
appears appears
in The Harlem
in TheBookHarlem
of theBook
Dead.of the Dead.
One
Oneof ofthethemanymany thematic
thematic
concernsconcerns
that can that
be clarified
can bebyclarified
a peri- by a
odization
odization of ofMorrison's
Morrison's work workbased on based
her struggle
on her with strugglecoloniza-with co
tion
tionisisher
her treatment
treatment of beauty
of beauty
throughout
throughout
her work.5her In thework.5
novelsIn the n
before
beforeTar TarBaby,
Baby,Morrison
Morrisonrepeatedly
repeatedly
depicts black
depicts
female
blackcharacters
female char
engulfed
engulfed byby white
whiteidealsideals
of beauty.
of beauty.
In The Bluest
In The Eye,Bluest
Pecola'sEye,desirePecola's
for
forblue
blueeyes
eyesreflects
reflects
a community
a community absorbedabsorbed
by white ideas
by white
of whatideas
is of w
beautiful.
beautiful. References
References to idols
to of idols
whiteoffemale
whitebeauty,
female Greta
beauty,
Garbo,Greta G
Ginger
GingerRogers,
Rogers, JeanJeanHarlow,Harlow,
and to and
the child
to the
iconchild
of beauty,
icon Shirley
of beauty, Sh
Temple,
Temple, bespeak
bespeak an obsession
an obsession with a with
standard
a standard
of white female
of white beau-female
ty
ty that,
that,in in
turn,
turn,renders
renders
black women
black women
and girls and
invisible.
girlsPecola's
invisible.
in- Pecol
sanity
sanityatat thetheendendof theof novel
the novel
mirrors, mirrors,
Morrison Morrison
suggests, a suggests,
cultural a cu
insanity
insanity that
thatthreatens
threatens the black
the community's
black community's
identity and identity
strength.and str
Likewise, in Sula, Nel is raised in accordance with white ideas of
beauty. She is told to pull on her nose to make it "nice," and endures
the hot comb in her mother's pursuit of smooth hair for her (55). In
Song of Solomon, the Hagar subplot revisits the maddening effects of
internalized white standards of female beauty on black women.
When Hagar sees the new object of Milkman's affections, a girl with
light skin and smooth, long hair, she begins an obsessive downward
spiral, attempting to buy and "put on" those markers of beauty more
in accordance with received notions of white-identified beauty. Part
of Milkman's quest in the novel is to come to an appreciation and ac-
ceptance of a beauty based on black ideals, as reflected in his taking a
lock of Hagar's hair with him upon returning to Not Doctor Street.

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PERIODIZING TONI MORRISON'S WORK 75

In
In Tar
TarBaby,
Baby, Morrison's
Morrison's
struggle
struggle
with the
with
colonization
the colonization
of African of A
American
American beauty
beautyby white
by white
notions
notions
of beauty
of comes
beauty to comes
a head intoher
a head
portrait
portrait ofofa colonized
a colonized
blackblack
beauty,
beauty,
Jadine. Jadine.
Unlike theUnlike
previous
thethree
previo
female
femalecharacters,
characters, whowho
are hurt
are by,
hurtstruggle
by, struggle
with, andwith,
ultimately
and suc-
ultima
cumb
cumbtoto internalized
internalizedviewsviews
of beauty,
of beauty,
Jadine isJadine
thoroughly
is thoroughl
happy
with
witha adefinition
definition of beauty
of beauty
based based
on white
onstandards,
white standards,
because shebecause
fits
it.
it. InInfact,
fact, Jadine
Jadine
struggles
struggles
not against
not against
a white-defined
a white-defined
standard ofstanda
fe-
male
malebeauty,
beauty, butbut
against
against
a black-defined
a black-defined
beauty, as
beauty,
represented
as represen
by
the
thewoman
woman in in
yellow
yellow
who who
hauntshaunts
her dreams,
her dreams,
because itbecause
reminds itherremi
of
of her
herinauthenticity.
inauthenticity.
The character
The character
in Tar Baby
in Tar
whoBaby
is personally
who is hurt
personally
by
by white
white standards
standards
of beauty,
of beauty,
Alma Estee,
AlmaasEstee,
exemplified
as exemplified
in her
grotesque
grotesque russet
russet
wig,wig,
is a marginal
is a marginal
character.
character.
Thus, Morrison
Thus, makes
Morrison
an
an important
important shift
shift
in her
in handling
her handling
of the ideas
of the
of beauty
ideas of
andbeauty
colo- an
nization
nization inin
TarTar
Baby,
Baby,
for by
formoving
by moving
away from
away focusing
from onfocusing
the per- on t
sonal
sonaldevastation
devastationcaused
caused
in black
in black
womenwomen
by internalized
by internalized
ideas of i
white
whitefemale
female beauty
beautyto instead
to instead
concentrating
concentrating
on a blackon woman
a black
whowom
fully
fullyidentifies
identifies with with
and achieves
and achieves
those internalized
those internalized
standards, standard
Mor-
rison
risonshifts
shifts herher
concern
concernaway away
from thefrompersonal
the personal
toward the toward
cultural.the c
Jadine
Jadinerepresents
represents the the
cultural
cultural
costs tocosts
the African
to the American
African commu-
American
nity
nityof ofblacks
blacks who who
identify
identify
with white
with culture
white toculture
the extent
to the
thatextent
they t
reject
rejecttheir
theirown.own.
Jadine
Jadine
is notisabsorbed
not absorbed
only by only
white by
culture's
white defin-
culture
ition
itionof ofbeauty,
beauty, she she
fullyfully
identifies
identifies
with European
with European
cultural values
cultur
about
aboutart,
art,nature,
nature, family,
family,
and money.
and money.
Tar
TarBaby
Baby also
also
represents
representsa departure
a departure
from Morrison's
from Morrison's
earlier depic-
earlie
tions
tionsof ofbeauty
beauty in its
in plurality
its plurality
of beauty
of beauty
ideals. While
ideals.
in the
While
earlier
in th
novels
novelsthe theidea
idea
of beauty
of beautyseemsseems
to be dominated
to be dominated
by white standards,
by white st
in
in Tar
TarBaby
BabyMorrison
Morrison represents
represents
and elaborates
and elaborates
on alternatives.
on alternative
First,
several
severaltypes
types of of
female
female
beautybeauty
are represented:
are represented:
a white female
a whitebeau-fem
ty,
ty,Margaret;
Margaret; a white-identified
a white-identified black female
black beauty,
femaleJadine;
beauty, andJadine
a
black-identified
black-identified blackblack
femalefemale
beauty, beauty,
the womanthe inwoman
yellow. inSecond,
yellow. S
characters
characters discuss
discuss differing
differing
aesthetic
aesthetic
values throughout
values throughout
the novel, the
with
withJadine
Jadine favoring
favoring Picasso
Picasso
and hating
and hating
the swamp,thewith
swamp,Valerian
with Va
preferring
preferring hishis
hot-house
hot-house blooms blooms
to the to
tropical
the tropical
vegetationvegetation
outdoors, o
and
andwith
with thetheemperor
emperor butterflies
butterflies
deploring
deploring
the sealskin
thecoat
sealskin
Jadine coat
adores. There are aesthetic and cultural choices available to the char-
acters in this novel, even for the white beauty, Margaret, who by the
end of the novel chooses natural beauty over her previous high-class,
artificial beauty object persona. Jadine chooses to reject the swamp
women and Son, and decides to return to her life in Europe, and thus
chooses to remain colonized.
By placing this issue of beauty and aesthetic value in the context of
colonization, and by making colonization a choice rather than an in-
escapable fact (once your options are made available), Morrison is

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76 MALIN WALTHER PEREIRA

then
then free
free in
in Tar
TarBaby
Babytotoreject
rejectcolonization
colonization
byby
white
white
ideas
ideas
andand
cho
a decolonized
decolonized stance.
stance.When
WhenJadine's
Jadine'splane
plane
takes
takes
offoff
andand
sheshe
lea
the
the novel,
novel, Morrison
Morrisoninineffect
effectsays
says
goodbye
goodbyeto to
colonization
colonization
in h
work
work and
and turns
turnsthe
thenovel's
novel'sattention
attentiontoto
thethe
black
black
cultural
cultural
mythos
myth
the
the blind
blind horsemen
horsemenandandthe
thetar
tar
baby
babyfolktale.
folktale.Morrison's
Morrison's
work
work
aft
Tar
Tar Baby
Baby continues
continuesthis
thisdecolonized
decolonizedfocus
focus onon
black
black
history
history
andand
cu
ture.
ture. Morrison's
Morrison'sprimary
primarydialogue
dialogue
with
withandandcritique
critique
of of
white
white
cultu
cu
becomes
becomes tertiary
tertiarywith
withTar
TarBaby.
Baby.
Paralleling
Paralleling thisthisgeneral
generalshift
shiftininemphasis
emphasis between
between Morrison's
Morrison's ear
and
and later
later periods,
periods,Beloved
Beloveddeparts
departs from
from Morrison's
Morrison's first
first
four
four
novel
no
its
its complete
complete disinterest
disinterestininthe thecolonization
colonization of of
black
black
female
femalebeauty
beau
white
white ideals.
ideals. The
Themainmainfemale
femalecharacters
characters simply
simply don't
don't
think
thinkabouab
whether
whether they theyfit fitprescribed
prescribednotions
notions ofof beauty,
beauty, nornor
areare
theythey
held het
beauty
beauty standard
standardwithinwithinor orwithout
without the thecommunity.
community. TheThe
twotwoinstan
in
where
where beauty
beauty becomes
becomesan anissue
issueare
areminor,
minor, andandunrelated
unrelated to coloni
to col
tion.
tion. First,
First, Paul
PaulD, D,who
whohad hadinitially
initially found
found the the
scars
scars
on on
Sethe's
Sethe'ba
beautiful,
beautiful, reacts
reactsnegatively
negativelyafter
afterhaving
having sexsex
with
withherher
andandthinks
thinkh
back
back isis aa "revolting
"revoltingclump
clumpofofscars"
scars" (21).
(21).Both
Bothhe he
andand
Sethe
Setheare are
ha
ing
ing doubts
doubts and andthinking
thinkingof ofhow
how little
littlethe theother
othermeasures
measures up. up.
Secon
S
Beloved
Beloved is is described
describedasasbeautiful,
beautiful, which
which is is
part
partof of
herher
magical
magicaleffee
on
on others.
others. BothBothof ofthese
thesearearequite
quiteunlike
unlike thethetrap
trap
of of
white-identif
white-iden
female
female beauty
beautyelaborated
elaboratedon oninin
the
theearly
early novels.
novels.Thus,
Thus,
thethelacklack
of
female
female beauty
beautyissueissueininBeloved
Beloved supports
supports reading
reading Morrison's
Morrison's post-T
po
Baby
Baby work
work as as decolonized.
decolonized.
However,
However, it it could
couldbebeargued
arguedthatthatBeloved
Beloved does
does
notnot
reflect
reflecta post-T
a po
Baby
Baby decolonized
decolonizedstance
stancebecause
becauseit it
constitutes
constitutes
Morrison's
Morrison's
dialog
di
with
with and
and critique
critiqueof ofwhite
whiteversions
versions ofofthe
the
history
historyof of
slavery.
slavery.
BeloB
certainly
certainly offers
offersan analternative
alternativeversion
version ofof
thethe
slavery
slavery
experience,
experiencewr
ten
ten as
as it
it is
is from
fromthetheperspective
perspective ofofAfrican
African Americans,
Americans, bothboth
freefra
enslaved.
enslaved. But But Beloved
Belovedisisnot
notfocused
focused ononcorrecting
correcting white
whiteversions
versi
slavery,
slavery, of of Margaret
MargaretGarner,
Garner,ororeven
evenonondepicting
depictingthethe
horrors
horrors
of sl
o
ery,
ery, although
althoughit itdoes,
does,inineffect,
effect,dodothese;
these;instead,
instead,thethe
central
central
focus
fo
the
the novel
novel is is on
onthe
theinner
innerrealities
realities
andandinterpersonal
interpersonal relationships
relationsh
the
the central
central black
blackcharacters,
characters,while
while the
thewhite
whitecharacters
characters remain
remain
ma
ginal.
ginal. Furthermore,
Furthermore,Beloved's
Beloved's(and
(and
Jazz's)
Jazz's)
focus
focus
on on
primary
primary ph
sophical
sophical issues
issuessuch
suchasasmemory,
memory, identity,
identity,
time,
time,
andand
love,
love,
issues
issue
th
are
are not
not circumscribed
circumscribedby byany
anydominant
dominantcultural
cultural
frame,
frame,suggests
sugge
turning
turning away
awayin inher
herlater
laterwork
workfrom
froma primary
a primary focus
focuson on
cultural
cultur c
onization.

In Jazz, Morrison picks up the theme of beauty but treats it from

decolonized perspective by signifying on it.6 In many ways, Jazz
about signification. The epigraph, "I am the name of the sound / a
the sound of the name. / I am the sign of the letter / and the desig

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PERIODIZING TONI MORRISON'S WORK 77

tion
tion of of
the the
division,"
division,"
from Thefrom
Nag Hammadi,
The Nagframes Hammadi,
the novel's play-
frames the nov
ing
ingonon the the
division
division
between between
signs and their
signs
referents.
and their
Joe and referents.
Violet's Joe and
last
lastname
name is Trace,
is Trace,
taken bytaken
Joe afterbybeing
Joetold
after
his parents
being "disap-
told his parents
peared
peared without
withouta trace"a (124),
trace"surely
(124),
signifying
surelyon Jacques
signifying
Derrida's on Jacques D
concept
concept of the
of trace
the left
trace
by the
left
absent
bysign
thein absent
the processsign
of significa-
in the process of s
tion.7
tion.7Signs
Signsproliferate
proliferate
throughoutthroughout
the novel: Dorcas'
thephoto
novel:
on theDorcas' photo
mantel
mantel is a is
sign
a of
sign
the dead
of the
girl, dead
a sign which
girl,ina its
sign
differance
which (toin
dif-its differance
fer
ferand
and
defer)
defer)
marks marks
the trace the
of hertrace
presence
ofinher
Joe and
presence
Violet's in Joe and
minds
minds as well
as well
as her as
absence
her inabsence
death, andinwhich
death,
signifies
and differently
which signifies dif
depending
depending on theonbeholder
the beholder
(12); Joe tells
(12);
of waiting
Joe tells
to learn
ofhiswaiting
moth- to learn h
er's
er'sidentity,
identity,askingasking
that "All that
she had"All
to doshe
was give
hadhim to adosign"
wasand give him a sig
he would know it was the wild woman who was his mother. Morri-
son has fun in Jazz with the proliferation of meanings offered by the
process of signification, as in the case of Malvonne, who, upon dis-
covering the sack of mail her nephew had stolen, reads the letters and
makes additions that alter the senders' intended significance (40-44).
Under signification, meaning, while multiple, cannot finally be deter-
mined. Cause and effect, arche and telos, become separated when
signs are at play. While indeterminacy can be disorienting, there is a
freedom and lightheartedness associated with signifying. One is free
of oppressive meanings; one escapes being determined by a final,
transcendental signified.
From this post-modern, decolonized stance, the novels of Morri-
son's later period revoice and revise those of her earlier period. For
example, Morrison signifies in Jazz on the meanings of female beauty
in her first novel, The Bluest Eye, in which the white ideals of beauty
were oppressive determinants of Pecola's identity. We can say of The
Bluest Eye that signs of white beauty throughout the culture were in-
ternalized by the black community. We can say that, according to that
discourse of signs, Pecola was rendered invisible. We can even say
that the sign system of beauty (along with the rape by her father)
drove her mad. We cannot make such statements about beauty in
Jazz. In Jazz, Morrison signifies on the signs from The Bluest Eye, but
her characters and the novel escape being determined by them. They
remain at play, never resting with a final signified. And that breaks
their power.
The first sign in Jazz that Morrison is signifying on The Bluest Eye
from a decolonized position comes in Morrison's repetition and re-
vised use of the narrator Claudia's opening comment, "Quiet as it's
kept, there were no marigolds in the fall of 1941" (5). In Jazz, this
phrase reappears in the first section in the narrator's disclosure about
Violet: "but quiet as it's kept, she did try to steal that baby although
there is no way to prove it" (17). Such repetition of a phrase might

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78 MALIN WALTHER PEREIRA

seem coincidental, were it not for Morrison's newly published A

word to the 1993 edition of The Bluest Eye, in which she discus
length her use of that opening sentence in The Bluest Eye as rep
tative of her writing at that time (211-214). As the Afterword
clear, Morrison is looking back with a critical eye at her early
noting its limitations, and, in Jazz, playing with its possibilities
Morrison also signifies in Jazz on the color and musical mot
The Bluest Eye. The blue eyes Pecola longs for are not only blu
cause they represent a white, Aryan ideal, but because her desir
them and the madness that brings is a theme suitable for a
song. As Ralph Ellison defines it, the blues

is an impulse to keep the painful details and episodes of a brutal ex

rience alive in one's aching consciousness, to finger its jagged gra
and to transcend it, not by the consolation of philosophy but
squeezing from it a near-tragic, near-comic lyricism. As a form,
blues is an autobiographical chronicle of personal catastrophe
pressed lyrically. (78-79)

Pecola has the blues and cannot sing them away. She is "the blu
In Jazz, however, the blues is transposed into jazz, which,
grounded in the "blues impulse" that acknowledges the painfu
ities of a complex experience, transforms blues materials into
thing different. As Craig Werner explains the relationship be
the blues and jazz impulses, "the jazz impulse provides a way o
ploring implications, of realizing the relational possibilities of
(blues) self, and of expanding the consciousness of self and com
nity through a process of continual improvisation" (xxi-xxii). In
Morrison, like any jazz artist, whose work is, according to Elli
"an endless improvisation upon traditional materials" (234),
her earlier, blues materials and improvisationally explores the
plications and envisions alternative possibilities. While the trag
of Joe and Violet's love triangle is the stuff of a classic blues so
becomes a far more complex, free-wheeling jazz piece. Violet,
Pecola, is not "the bluest I," although she has the blues; instead,
violet, a color suggesting a more nuanced understanding of th
plex realities before her.8
Morrison signifies directly on the issues of beauty and colori
Jazz in her depictions of Joe, Violet, Golden Gray, and Dorcas
adopts a decolonized stance toward their involvement with b
ideals. Joe and Violet are both purveyors of beauty ideals: he, w
case of "Cleopatra" beauty products for black women; she,
neighborhood hairdresser who presses, trims, and curls black

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PERIODIZING TONI MORRISON'S WORK 79

Both
Bothareare
haunted,
haunted,
in a sense,
in a sense,
by a past
byinvolving
a past Golden
involving
Gray,Golden
the Gra
white-appearing
white-appearing mulatto
mulatto
offspring
offspring
of Miss Vera,
of Miss
who Violet's
Vera, grand-
who Violet's
mother
mother True
True
BelleBelle
helped
helped
raise and
raise
adored
andand
adored
whose encounter
and whose enc
with
withJoe's
Joe's
probable
probable
mother,
mother,
Wild, has
Wild,
been passed
has been
on topassed
Joe by on to
Hunter's
Hunter's Hunter.
Hunter.Beautiful,
Beautiful,
blond, elegant
blond,Golden
elegantGrayGolden
is a trace
Gray
in is a t
the
thenovel,
novel, a trace
a trace
of the
ofallure
the ofallure
white-identified
of white-identified
beauty ideals,beauty
as id
well
wellasas a trace
a traceof plantation
of plantation
mythology
mythology
in American inliterature
American thatliteratu
plays
playsout outin in
Faulkner's
Faulkner's
work.9work.9
Having rejected
Havingthe rejected
colonizing
theplanta-
colonizing
tion
tionframe
frame in Tar
in Tar
Baby,Baby,
Morrison
Morrison
in Jazz takes
in Jazz
a decolonized
takes aposition
decolonized
and
andjams
jams on on
the the
myth.'0
myth.'0
GoldenGolden
Gray, like
Gray,
Faulkner
likeforFaulkner
Morrison,forstill Morri
has
hasinfluence
influence and and
is a predecessor
is a predecessor
for Violet,
forbutViolet,
no longerbutcolonizes
no longer c
Violet's
Violet's mind.
mind.NearNear
the end
the ofend
Jazz,of
Violet
Jazz, tries
Violet
to explain
triesto to
Felice
explain to
what
whathadhadgone
gone
wrongwrong
in herinlife;
herhowlife;
she had
how wished
she had
she were
wished sh
"White.
"White. Light.
Light.
Young
Young
again"again"
(208). Violet
(208).
traces
Violet
this traces
to the stories
this to the
True
TrueBelle
Bellehadhad
told told
her about
her Golden
about Gray:
Golden"He Gray:
lived inside
"He my
lived ins
mind.
mind.But But
I didn't
I didn't
knowknow
it till Iit
got
till
here.
I got
The here.
two of The
us. Had
twoto of
get us.
rid Had t
of
ofit"it"(208).
(208).
Felice
Felice
asks how
asksshe how did she
that,did
and that,
Violet replies,
and Violet
"Killedreplies, "
her.
her.Then
Then I killed
I killed
the me
thethat
mekilled
thather."
killed
Felice
her."
asks, Felice
"Who's asks,
left?" Vi-
"Who's le
olet
oletanswers,
answers,"Me""Me"
(209). (209).
Morrison
Morrison
describes describes
here a process
here
of decol-
a process of
onization
onization in in
which
which
VioletViolet
must destroy
must thedestroy
internalized
the internalized
white beauty white
ideal
idealthat's
that's
in her
in her
mind,mind,
as well as
as well
the destructive
as the destructive
part of her that
part of he
killed it."1 What's left is a decolonized self.
The depiction of Dorcas also signifies on the traces of white beauty
ideals in the black community from a decolonized perspective in
which those standards ultimately lack power. Dorcas has the right
signs of "beauty": "creamy" skin tone and hair the narrator suspects
she "didn't need to straighten" (5). And Dorcas is very involved in
beauty as something valuable. Felice relates how Dorcas's reaction to
the photo of her dead parents was that "Dorcas couldn't get over
how good looking they both were" (200). In fact, according to Felice,
"She was always talking about who was good looking and who was-
n't" (200). But Dorcas's signs of and involvement with beauty don't,
finally, signify that she is beautiful, Morrison points out. As Felice
muses, "Dorcas should have been prettier than she was. She just
missed. She had all the ingredients of pretty too. Long hair, wavy,
half good, half bad. Light skinned. Never used skin bleach. Nice
shape. But it missed somehow. If you looked at each thing, you
would admire that thing-the hair, the color, the shape. All together
it didn't fit" (201). Just as blue eyes won't make Pecola beautiful ac-
cording to a white-infused beauty ideal, neither will having all the
signs of it make Dorcas pretty. Dorcas, as her name implies, is a dorky
schoolgirl with pimples.12 Furthermore, the power of the white-iden-
tified beauty attributes Dorcas does have is substantially diminished

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80 MALIN WALTHER PEREIRA

tified
tified beauty
beautyattributes
attributesDorcas
Dorcasdoes
does
have
have
is substantially
is substantially
diminishe
dimin
in
in Jazz,
Jazz, as
ascompared
comparedtotoThe
TheBluest
BluestEye,
Eye,
because
because
Dorcas
Dorcas
is dead.
is dead.
The
The signifying
signifyingon onbeauty
beauty inin
Jazz
Jazzbreaks
breaks
thethe
power
power
of beauty
of beauty
over
the
the characters
charactersandandtheir
their
community
community because
becauseof their
of their
self-reflexiv
self-refl
ness
ness and
and sense
senseof
ofhaving
having choices,
choices,
two two
markers
markers of aof
decolonized
a decolonized
self
exemplary
exemplaryof ofMorrison's
Morrison'srecent
recent work
workto to
date.
date.
Ultimately,
Ultimately,
Joe Joe
and Va
olet become aware of their issues and choose not to remain stuck on
them. Joe, for example, when Felice asks if he is still stuck on Dorcas,
responds, "Stuck? Well, if you mean did I like about what I felt about
her. I guess I'm stuck to that" (212). Joe explicitly states it is not Dor-
cas and her signs of beauty he is stuck on; rather, he now under-
stands it is the issues from his past he projected onto her that he must
handle. By the end of the novel Joe chooses Violet, although he had
not done so before. Making choices is a motif the novel returns to
again and again: Violet chooses Joe (23), although Joe didn't choose
Violet (30); Joe chooses Dorcas (135), although when Acton chooses
her (216), she dumps Joe. And Golden Gray, when he meets his fa-
ther, Hunters Hunter, hears him demand, "Be what you want-white
or black. Choose. But if you choose black, you got to act black, mean-
ing draw your manhood up" (173). In Jazz, Morrison's characters
choose their affinities.
Morrison's central concern in her later work with self-reflexive
African American characters focused on issues of identity, memory,
and love differs radically from her focus in her early work with black
characters' struggles with the effects of psychological and cultural
colonization. Tracing Morrison's treatment of beauty makes the dif-
ferences between her early and later work salient; Tar Baby marks a
key shift in her oeuvre between these two periods. Such a periodiza-
tion of Morrison's work recommends we begin teaching Tar Baby as a
central novel in her canon, a novel that functions as the hinge high-
lighting the transition between periods. Likewise, further research on
Tar Baby could profitably trace how other concerns shift between
Morrison's early and more recent work.

I would like to thank the students in my course on Toni Morrison at the

University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the fall of 1994 forforcing me
to explain how I saw Morrison's periods and for adding to the evidence. I
would also like to thank Craig Wernerfor his -as always -helpful criticism
of an earlier version of this essay.

Notes

1. While periodization may seem a rather traditional endeavor, in light of how

post-structuralism and ideas of intertextuality have broken down the specif

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PERIODIZING TONI MORRISON'S WORK 81

locations
locationsof texts
of (author,
texts date
(author,
of publication,
date nationality,
of publication,
etc.), it seems
nationality,
to me a etc.), it seems
worthwhile
worthwhile means means
of engaging oftheengaging
complexity ofthemajor
complexity
authors who have of major authors who
written
writtena body a body
of diverse
oftexts.
diverse
By foregrounding
texts. By a key
foregrounding
framework, periodiza-a key framework, pe
tion
tioncancan
account
account
for seemingly
for radical
seemingly
differences
radical
among an differences
author's works. among an author's
Of
Ofcourse,
course,one possible
one possible
limitation islimitation
that a marginalisthread
that may a be
marginal
over-em- thread may be ov
phasized,
phasized, but such
butclaims
such are claims
usually corrected
are usually
in the critical
corrected
debate. in the critical debate.
2.
2.Although
Although Morrison Morrison
herself has herself
not used a post-colonial
has not used theoretical
a post-colonial
vocabulary theoretical voc
in
inher
her
interviews
interviews
or essays or
aboutessays
her work,about
much ofherher work,
non-fictional
muchwork of her non-fictiona
concerns
concerns issuesissues
of colonization
of colonization
for African Americans.
for African
Early essaysAmericans.
such as Early essays s
"What the Black Woman Thinks About Women's Lib" and "Behind the Mak-
ing of The Black Book" center on her belief in the importance of black resistance
to internalizing white culture and, instead, focusing on African American cul-
tural values. Such a concern also appears in her later non-fiction, such as the
essay "City Limits, Village Values," thereby indicating the issue of coloniza-
tion as an on-going thread throughout her work. A recent application of post-
colonial theory to Morrison's fiction is found in Homi K. Bhabha's The Location
of Culture.
3. In Debbie Mix's bibliography of Morrison criticism, Tar Baby has a mere six-
teen articles, only three of which have been published in the past five years.
4. See Walther, "Toni Morrison's Tar Baby: Re-Figuring the Colonizer's Aesthet-
ics," for a fuller discussion of the novel's treatment of colonization.
5. For a fuller explanation of Morrison's treatment of beauty in The Bluest Eye,
Song of Solomon, and Tar Baby see Walther, "Out of Sight: Toni Morrison's Revi-
sion of Beauty" and "Toni Morrison's Tar Baby: Re-Figuring the Colonizer's
Aesthetics."
6. For a full definition of the term signifyin(g) see Gates. Eckard's essay offers a
basic discussion of signifying in Jazz.
7. While this essay was under consideration at MELUS, Philip Page's fine article
on Jazz's affinities with Derridean concepts appeared in African American Re-
view. See it for a detailed discussion of differance, the trace, and the breach in
Jazz.

8. Such a signifying on the color blue-and the blues-also occurs in Duke

Ellington's "Mood Indigo." Thanks to Craig Werner for pointing out this echo
to me.

9. In Playing the Changes, Werner asserts that the Golden Gray section of Ja
functions as a "Faulknerian fable" (301).
10. Mbalia suggests that the Golden Gray section of the novel is the "jam sessio
of the novel (640).
11. Violet's killing-off of an ideologically-infected self echoes Virginia Woolf's
say "Professions for Women," where she describes killing the Victorian ideal
womanhood-the "angel in the house"-that was in her head and kept he
from writing. Note, too, the shift in pronouns in Violet's statement, in whi
she first refers to "him" (Golden Gray) and then refers to killing "her," mo
closely echoing Woolf's figuration. This conflation of Faulkner and Woolf in
Violet's psychological killing of the colonized self is especially interesting in
light of Morrison's master's thesis on the two authors.
12. Thanks to Lucinda Ramsey for pointing out this slang parallel in Dorca
name to me.

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82 MALIN WALTHER PEREIRA

Works Cited

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Eckard, Paula Gallant. "The Interplay of Music, Language, and Narrative in Toni
Morrison's Jazz." CLA Journal 38.1 (1994): 11-19.
Ellison, Ralph. "Richard Wright's Blues." Shadow and Act. N.Y.: Random, 1964. 77-
94.

Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African American Literary
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Harris, Trudier. Fiction and Folklore: The Novels of Toni Morrison. Knoxville: U of Ten-
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Heinze, Denise. The Dilemma of "Double-Consciousness": Toni Morrison's Novels.
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Karenga, Ron. "Black Cultural Nationalism." The Black Aesthetic. Ed. Addison
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Lee, Don L. "The Primitive." The Back Poets. Ed. Dudley Randall. New York: Bantam
Books, 1971. 297.
Mbalia, Doreatha Drummond. "Women Who Run With Wild." Modern Fiction Stud-
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Mix, Debbie. "Toni Morrison: A Selected Bibliography." Modern Fiction Studies: Toni
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Morrison, Toni. Afterword. The Bluest Eye. New York: Plume, 1993. 209-216.
. "Behind the Making of The Black Book." Black World. Feb. 1974: 86-90.
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Walther, Malin LaVon. "Out of Sight: Toni Morrison's Revision of Beauty." Black
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"Toni Morrison's Tar Baby: Re-Figuring the Colonizer's Aesthetics." Cross-
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Marianne Novy. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1993. 137-149.
Werner, Craig Hansen. Playing the Changes: From Afro-Modernism to the Jazz Impulse.
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and Other Essays, 1942. Rptd. in Virginia Woolf: Woman and Writing. Ed.
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